Photographer / Michael Durr
The first time Olivia Roney Mitchell took a martial arts class at 11 years old, she fell in love with the sport. She went to the library and checked out books about Japan and karate, eager to learn all she could. When her cousin started taking classes, Roney Mitchell desperately wanted to join, but she was raised by a single mom with six kids, and the family was strapped for cash. Determined to find a way, Roney Mitchell struck a deal with the owner of the karate studio, offering to scrub mats, wipe mirrors, and clean bathrooms in exchange for free lessons. After several years of taking lessons, she began teaching younger kids. That’s when she found her true passion.
“I was like, ‘This is what I want to do with my life!’” said Roney Mitchell, who took over running the kids’ program at that studio when she was 14.
“We come out of the womb punching, kicking, and screaming. It all comes so naturally,” she said. “When you capture kids’ attention with physical activity, you’re able to teach more than martial arts.”
Roney Mitchell founded Crouching Tigers in 2007 when she was just 20 years old. The idea came to her when she was studying at IUPUI and began offering her mobile services to various childcare centers and after-school programs, holding classes on-site. She was eager to not only teach children aged 2-7 martial arts but also life and safety skills. Teaching safety in a non-threatening way was important to her because when she was growing up, her mom used fear tactics to keep Roney Mitchell and her siblings safe.
“She’d always tell me that someday I was going to get kidnapped,” Roney Mitchell said. “We all stayed safe, but I grew up with so much fear.”
When she founded Crouching Tigers, she wanted to teach important safety lessons to children in a way that didn’t create anxiety. Therefore, she incorporates storytelling into every class.
Crouching Tigers operates as a mobile service, where certified instructors (senseis) go on-site to childcare centers and elementary schools to teach lessons in the Indy, Chicago and Cincinnati areas. Across all locations, they see about 3,000 students each week. The mobile option is convenient for working families who struggle to drive their children to classes. In addition, last October they opened a studio on Winthrop Avenue where they hold classes every Wednesday.
In years past, Roney Mitchell and other senseis found that they could drill a technique or concept for two or three minutes before students lost focus. However, a few years ago, they noticed attention spans had dropped to less than 30 seconds, making instruction difficult. To address this, Roney Mitchell enrolled in a 200-hour yoga teacher training, where she learned about sound meditation and singing bowls. She found that incorporating a calming sound at the start of class allowed students to clear their minds. This “tiger chime” rings for 14 seconds while students close their eyes.
“It gets rid of monkey mind and enables them to get tiger-focused,” Roney Mitchell said. “I think throughout the day kids are super overstimulated and don’t have the ability to close their eyes, breathe, and focus on just one thing. This is the one time in their day when they can do just that.”
It’s always exciting when parents tell Roney Mitchell that their kids have found their spark through Crouching Tigers. They may have previously tried other sports and activities, but for many, martial arts is the one thing they truly love, just as it was for Roney Mitchell when she first tried it.
“I’ve had many parents tell me that their kid refuses to take off their Crouching Tigers belts, so they sleep in them,” Roney Mitchell said.
Three times a year, they host promotion ceremonies where parents are invited to watch their child break a board and earn a new rank.
“It’s an exciting time for families, and the kids are on Cloud Nine,” Roney Mitchell said. “At this age, they’ve not been involved in school plays or other productions, so this is often their first performance where they stand up and perform in front of a crowd.”
Roney Mitchell hears a lot of success stories from families who return years later to share how their son or daughter continued their karate studies and earned their black belt.
“We like being that introductory program that exposes kids to the art,” Roney Mitchell said. “We encourage them to look into other martial arts schools after completing our program.”
When Roney Mitchell first started the company, a set of parents brought their kindergarten son to classes because he was being bullied at school. He was a shy, meek kid, and his parents begged for help. The program helped him, but not in the way one might expect. The boy didn’t need self-defense; he needed a boost in confidence. By progressing through the ranks, breaking boards, and memorizing and reciting things, he started to feel more accomplished. That new sense of confidence was what stopped him from being bullied.
“Anytime a child finds their spark and sees their progress, they carry themselves with a new level of confidence,” Roney Mitchell said. “It’s a beautiful thing to witness.”
Crouching Tigers Headquarters Studio is located at 5255 Winthrop Ave., Suite 7, Indianapolis, IN 46220. For more information, call 88-761-5151 or visit crouchingtigers.com.
